Tonight Phish tour moved on to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD for the first of two shows at the venue. The quartet first performed at Merriweather on July 17, 1992 and have since played a total of seven shows at the shed leading up to tonight.
Scott Marks (@bizarchive) will be reporting live from the show for @YEMblog. READ ON for the setlist and The Skinny…
Sometimes you know what to expect from a Phish show. Others, you don’t. Last night in Camden, NJ, at the Susquehanna Bank Center was definitely the latter, and a show that displayed some flashes of brilliance, but overall had an odd vibe and flow throughout. Kicking off with the usual encore tune, Rocky Top, and immediately followed by Mike’s Song > I am Hydrogen >Weekapaug Groove, Friday night was surely off to a start that caught many off-guard.The first highlight of the night was definitely this Weekapaug. With Mike Gordon on bass leading the way, this version had the extra spark that many of the previous years have been missing.
In many ways, the first set felt like it was backwards, eventually closing with The Curtain (With). After some ebbs and flows of the set, The Curtain With punctuated a 90-plus minute opening stanza with one of the most impressive, soaring and soulful solos that Trey Anastasio has laid upon us in some time. As this tune was transpiring, I knew it was something magical and definitely my favorite version of the song in recent memory – and maybe ever. (There’s no mistake that the band released the official vibe of this song from last night.
Watch it here:
While the long first set was an interesting affair, set two is one I’m still not sure what to make of – although I enjoyed huge portions of it as it was occurring. Down With Disease > Free was a welcome, but predictable springboard for the final frame – but that’s about the last predictable thing that went down. When everyone hoped that the improvisational doors had been opened for the remainder of the evening, Trey led the band into yet another Possum, a song played all-too-much this tour. Now, this version was very strong, with above average work by Anastasio, but it was the song’s placement that did it wrong. Like PNC the previous week, an early set Possum is just the wrong spot for this tune to be played. Period. Always fun, but oddly placed. In fact, Odd was a common word that kept popping into my head last night. Just like the Big Black Furry Creatures From Mars that followed and saw Gordon sitting on the ground while singing. I told you last night was a bit weird, right?
2011 marked the 10th anniversary of the Sasquatch! Music Festival, one of the most beloved and well-attended of its kind in America. Held at the breathtaking Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, Sasquatch mixed indie rock, folk, punk, hip-hop and experimental music over the course of four full days. Selling out all 25,000 daily tickets in a mere couple of days, the popularity of the festival is only eclipsed by the consistent strength of its annual lineups. This year, headliners the Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and Wilco in no way embody the flashy, the opulent or the minimal; however, their solid rock-based performances were heartfelt, powerful and undeniably compelling.
As Bonnaroo built to a head on Friday, the day turned out to be a hectic and overwhelming one. More than a few attendees were roundly confused by an evening stunt that featured parachuters dropping several thousand fluttering LED lights, and that can be attributed to the monumental amount of activity at the festival. They could hardly be expected to comprehend the stunt or the cryptic messages borne by the cargo’s QR code after such a day. Plus, many of them had seen Ron Jeremy in the flesh, or perhaps been berated by Lewis Black.
